Birmingham council election officials were verbally abused when they challenged relatives 'assisting' voters in polling booths at the May local elections, according to a new dossier. One angry relative ripped up a ballot paper and tossed it at the official when she was told not to influence her daughter's vote.
In other polling stations, campaigners were an intimidating presence as voters turned up to cast their votes, according to a report released under the Freedom of Information Act and seen by BirminghamLive. The elections watchdog and West Midlands Police have now been asked to investigate.
More than 50 incidents recorded
The elections on May 7 to choose 101 councillors to govern the city were among the most fraught and divided in recent history, with a record number of candidates. The end result was a fractured council, with a minority coalition of Greens, Lib Dems and Better Birmingham Independents seizing power.
An internal council dossier outlining more than 50 incidents at polling stations has now been published in response to an FOI request by Reform UK in Birmingham. They wanted to get to the bottom of rumours that some voters were unduly influenced by family members and campaigners. The parliamentary by-election in Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester had been marred by similar accusations.
Neighbouring councils, including Walsall, have also reported similar incidents. One Walsall councillor, Hajran Bashir, said female candidates and residents were subjected to 'extreme intimidation' outside polling stations.
Incidents in Garretts Green, Balsall Heath West, Aston and Soho
In Birmingham, troubling incidents were recorded at polling stations in Garretts Green, Balsall Heath West, Aston and Soho and Jewellery Quarter, with reports of 'abusive', 'rude' and 'aggressive' behaviour towards officials who tried to intervene or stop inappropriate behaviour. In Handsworth Wood, voters were said to 'just switch language' when told to 'stop collaborating'. While in Quinton, a woman went into the booth with her daughter and told staff 'she wanted to make sure' she 'voted correctly'.
West Midlands Police said it will 'assess new information' about the election process in the city. The electoral watchdog is preparing a report into the issue.
Presiding officers at some of the polling stations around the city on May 7 reported how they frequently had to tell voters it was against the law to enter a booth with someone else, or to tell them not to influence or point at which candidate to pick on the ballot papers.
Campaigners and family members under scrutiny
At one polling station in Aston, campaigners seeking to encourage voting for their preferred candidate were trying to 'help' people to vote, were stood around in the polling station 'chatting', and 'made women feel uncomfortable'. There were also multiple issues reported at a polling station in Balsall Heath West, a seat eventually going to the Green Party's Duncan Ali. Staff reported being under 'stress' due to the behaviour of individuals, whose names were redacted.
They said one individual was using 'Islamic gestures, blinking eyes and hand gestures' to indicate to voters where to mark their X, and was 'trying continuously' to 'influence voters' - and when stopped accused officials of fraud. Candidates and their agents are permitted to observe inside polling stations.
The findings were recorded by returning officer Robert Connolly as part of his duties to ensure the elections were fair and free. The lengthy list of reports included:
- Alum Rock: "Multiple people in booths, using phone, pens, ID - all told to comply with regulations as posted on posters"
- Aston: "Polling station dominated with high volume of families. One of issues in this polling station (was) campaigners trying to help voters to vote, campaigners requesting to use the toilets, campaigners making women feel uncomfortable...no privacy in this area or respect for voters, one of the worst polling stations."
- Balsall Heath West: "Since morning...we been so stressed and under pressure by X and his X. He was trying continuously influencing voters - we have stopped him but done that again and again - now he blaming us for fraud in the election process."
Other reports included Bartley Green where persons got angry saying 'I am talking to my wife', and Garretts Green where a father held all poll cards and passports and advised each family member on how to vote. In Hall Green North, an elector swore at an official after being told not to talk and influence parties/candidates to other voters inside the booth.
Police and Electoral Commission respond
In a statement, Birmingham City Council said: "The Returning Officer has passed on all available observations of potential family voting to the police and we understand the police have decided to take no further action." But West Midlands Police said today: "We will be assessing new information that has come to light and will work with Birmingham City Council and the Electoral Commission as part of the review process."
The Electoral Commission said: "We provide guidance and support... to help protect the integrity of elections, and work with police to ensure allegations of electoral abuse and intimidation are treated seriously. We are gathering evidence on the... May 2026 elections and will publish our findings in the coming weeks."
Jex Parkin, Reform UK's Birmingham group leader, said his group had initiated the Freedom of Information request seen by BirminghamLive to try to validate claims of family voting. "What concerned us was that polling staff had apparently been having to intervene to protect the secrecy of the ballot, and in some cases were facing aggression when they did so. We wanted to know how widespread it actually was...the response that came back (detailing the findings from polling stations) was considerably more concerning than the original reports suggested."
Coun Parkin, whose party makes up the official opposition to the coalition running the council, said: "People fought for the right to vote freely and privately. Birmingham must not allow that right to be diluted by intimidation, pressure or family control. What these findings reveal is that this cannot simply be dismissed as the occasional misunderstanding about polling-station etiquette. Some of the language recorded...suggests behaviour which may have become normalised. The secret ballot is one of the foundations of our democracy. Every adult has their own vote, and nobody has the right to exercise it for them or pressure them over how it is cast."
He added: "Reform UK Birmingham want the council’s full post-election review published, clarity about the outcome of cases passed to the police, and firm safeguards in place before Birmingham next goes to the polls."
